Introduction

This is where I’m going to talk a bit about the background of the study, hopefully with time this will become more indepth.

The impact of peatland restoration on specialised invertebrate assemblages at Forsinard Nature Reserve and implications for conservation

Species involved and conservation status:

This project examines specialised peatland invertebrate assemblages containing a wide range of rare
and vulnerable species, many of which are likely to be represented in the samples collected during
this project. My project will focus on the orders Coleoptera and Hemiptera, although given enough
time other orders will also be considered. The attached document lists examples of notable
invertebrate species found on blanket bogs (obtained from Buglife – the Invertebrate Conservation
Trust).Summary of proposed objectives

As part of a larger study carried out by the James Hutton Institute into the impacts of peatland
restoration on biodiversity and environmental factors, I will be investigating the response of two
major insect orders to the removal of conifer plantations from a blanket bog at Forsinard Nature
Reserve.

I will sample and study insect communities in restored (clear felled) and degraded (intact conifer
plantation) bog areas. The findings will be compared to the target (pristine) bog areas.
Environmental measurements will also be taken in each of the sample areas (e.g. ground wetness,
vegetation characteristics) in order to correlate to the findings and serve as explanatory variables.
The study also aims to carry out a trait analysis of the invertebrates in order to determine whether
the impact of restoration differs between functionally different insect groups.